Public Perception and Quality of Public Open Spaces: Case Study of City and Community Level Parks in Amritsar City

The rapport between public open spaces and public contentment eventually determines the quality of life for people residing in large and dense cities. Good quality open space in urban area is pivotal for well-being of individuals. However, there is a huge gap between envisioned design of public open spaces and satisfaction level of users. Therefore, this paper aims to understand and investigate ways in which users of all age groups and genders perceive public open spaces taking five parameters like access and linkages; safety and security; comfort; attractiveness. The methodology follows convergent approach which includes mixed research methods using qualitative and quantitative analysis. Research focuses on city and community level parks of Amritsar city. Results of study can help in providing better planning and designing of open spaces in terms of infrastructure as per the preferences of varied users

Revisiting plant defense-fitness trade-off hypotheses using Solanum as a model genus

Plants possess physical and chemical defenses which have been found to deter herbivores that feed and oviposit on them. Despite having wide variety of defenses which can be constitutive or induced, plants are attacked and damaged by insects associated with different mouthparts and feeding habits. Since these defenses are costly, trade-offs for growth and defense traits play an important role in warding off the herbivores, with consequences for plant and herbivore growth, development and fitness. Solanum is a diverse and rich genus comprising of over 1,500 species with economic and ecological importance. Although a large number of studies on Solanum species with different herbivores have been carried out to understand plant defenses and herbivore counter defenses, they have primarily focused on pairwise interactions, and a few species of economic and ecological importance. Therefore, a detailed and updated understanding of the integrated defense system (sum of total defenses and trade-offs) is still lacking. Through this review, we take a closer look at the most common plant defense hypotheses, their assumptions and trade-offs and also a comprehensive evaluation of studies that use the genus Solanum as their host plant, and their generalist and specialist herbivores from different feeding guilds. Overall, review emphasizes on using ubiquitous Solanum genus and working toward building an integrated model which can predict defense-fitness-trade-offs in various systems with maximum accuracy and minimum deviations from realistic results

What is better: cryocautery or electrocautery for cervical erosion?

Background: Present study was conducted with a background in mind to compare the efficacy of electrocautery and cryocautery for the management of cervical erosion. Aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of electrocautery and cryocautery for the treatment of cervical erosion and to check cost effectiveness.Methods: A comparative study was conducted at Maharishi Markandeshwar medical college and hospital, Kumarhatti (Solan) between July’13 to June’14 among 100 patients of reproductive age group with cervical erosion. They were grouped into 2 groups A (Electrocautery) & B (Cryocautery) and data obtained was analysed by paired t-test.Results: Though in short- term follow-up at 4-6 weeks after cautery, apparently electrocautery was superior to cryocautery in terms of erosion healing rate 92% vs. 76% as P value (0.4557) is not statistically significant, but in long-term follow-up at 12-14 weeks there was no significant difference in erosion healing but electrocautery was cost effective.Conclusions: Both types of cautery were equally good for treatment of cervical erosion in long-term follow-up. But electrocautery occupies less space and there is no chance of gas leakage in electrocautery, so electrocautery is more cost effective.

Desktop scanning electron microscopy in plant-insect interactions research: A fast and effective way to capture electron micrographs with minimal sample preparation

The ability to visualize cell and tissue morphology at a high magnification using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has revolutionized plant sciences research. In plant-insect interactions studies, SEM based imaging has been of immense assistance to understand plant surface morphology including trichomes (plant hairs; physical defense structures against herbivores (Kaur and Kariyat, 2020a, 2020b; Watts and Kariyat, 2021), spines, waxes, and insect morphological characteristics such as mouth parts, antennae, and legs, that they interact with. While SEM provides finer details of samples, and the imaging process is simpler now with advanced image acquisition and processing, sample preparation methodology has lagged. The need to undergo elaborate sample preparation with cryogenic freezing, multiple alcohol washes and sputter coating makes SEM imaging expensive, time consuming, and warrants skilled professionals, making it inaccessible to majority of scientists. Here, using a desktop version of Scanning Electron Microscope (SNE- 4500 Plus Tabletop), we show that the “plug and play” method can efficiently produce SEM images with sufficient details for most morphological studies in plant-insect interactions. We used leaf trichomes of Solanum genus as our primary model, and oviposition by tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta; Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) and fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda; Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and leaf surface wax imaging as additional examples to show the effectiveness of this instrument and present a detailed methodology to produce the best results with this instrument. While traditional sample preparation can still produce better resolved images with less distortion, we show that even at a higher magnification, the desktop SEM can deliver quality images. Overall, this study provides detailed methodology with a simpler “no sample preparation” technique for scanning fresh biological samples without the use of any additional chemicals and machinery

Gingival plasma cell granuloma: An enigmatic inflammatory pseudo-tumor with literature review

Plasma cell granulomas (PCGs) also known as inflammatory pseudotumors are tumor like proliferations consisting chiefly of plasma cells, found most commonly in lungs. They can occur in areas such as orbit, head, neck and liver, but rarely they occur in the oral cavity. We here report an exceedingly rare case of gingival PCG in a 52-year-old woman who presented with unusual maxillary gingival overgrowth by excisional biopsy. Histopathological examination of the lesion showed a dense mass consisting of thin keratinized epithelium with proliferating rete ridges. The connective tissue showed hypercellularity. A dense inflammatory infiltrate consisting primarily of plasma cells and lymphocytes was seen in the connective tissue. Focal budding capillaries were seen in the stroma confirming the diagnosis of PC

Effects of Supervised Exercise-based Telerehabilitation on Walk Test Performance and Quality of Life in Patients in India with Chronic Disease: Combatting COVID-19

Background: The world is currently undergoing a pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19). According to the World Health Organization, patients with chronic illnesses appear to be at the highest risk for COVID-19 associated sequelae. Inability to participate in outpatient-based rehabilitation programs and being home-bound can increase the risk for and potential worsening of chronic health conditions. This study evaluated the short-term effects of telerehabilitation on patients’ walk test performance and health related quality of life (HRQoL).  Methods: 47 patients (23 cardiovascular, 15 pulmonary, 9 oncology) participated in the telerehabilitation program. At baseline and following a 1-month intervention, patients had their 6-minute walk test distance (6MWTD) and HRQoL assessed. Average daily step counts were measured by the PACER App. Conclusion: Our results indicate that a short-term, supervised virtual telerehabilitation program had significant positive effects on 6MWTD and HRQoL in cardiac, pulmonary and oncology patients during COVID-19

Sex and stress modulate pupal defense response in tobacco hornworm

In insects, larval and adult defenses against predators have been well studied. However, pupal (also known as resting stage) defenses have been overlooked and not examined thoroughly. Although some pupa possess antipredator strategies such as hairs, spines, cryptic coloration, and exudation of chemicals, few studies have tested these responses and the factors affecting them. Here, we investigated the behavioral responses in tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta that pupates in soil by introducing an external stimulus using vibrations from an electric toothbrush to mimic predation. We observed that M. sexta made violent wriggling (twitching), followed by pulsating movements in response to the vibrational stimulus. Detailed examination showed that these twitches and pulsating events occurred more frequently and for longer periods of time in male pupa and were dependent on the magnitude of the stress (high and low frequency). However, when we estimated the angular force exerted by pupa using radian and angular momentum of twitches, it was found to be independent of pupal sex. A follow-up experiment on possible cascading effects of stress exposure on eclosion success revealed that low- and high-frequency stress exposure didn’t cause any of the common defects in eclosed adults. Our study clearly demonstrates that the so-called defenseless pupal stage uses a wide range of measurable defense behaviors that can actively defend against predators and should be examined further-linking observed behavior with underlying mechanisms

Prognostic risk factors for moderate-to-severe exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic literature review

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. COPD exacerbations are associated with a worsening of lung function, increased disease burden, and mortality, and, therefore, preventing their occurrence is an important goal of COPD management. This review was conducted to identify the evidence base regarding risk factors and predictors of moderate-to-severe exacerbations in patients with COPD. METHODS: A literature review was performed in Embase, MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). Searches were conducted from January 2015 to July 2019. Eligible publications were peer-reviewed journal articles, published in English, that reported risk factors or predictors for the occurrence of moderate-to-severe exacerbations in adults age ≥ 40 years with a diagnosis of COPD. RESULTS: The literature review identified 5112 references, of which 113 publications (reporting results for 76 studies) met the eligibility criteria and were included in the review. Among the 76 studies included, 61 were observational and 15 were randomized controlled clinical trials. Exacerbation history was the strongest predictor of future exacerbations, with 34 studies reporting a significant association between history of exacerbations and risk of future moderate or severe exacerbations. Other significant risk factors identified in multiple studies included disease severity or bronchodilator reversibility (39 studies), comorbidities (34 studies), higher symptom burden (17 studies), and higher blood eosinophil count (16 studies). CONCLUSIONS: This systematic literature review identified several demographic and clinical characteristics that predict the future risk of COPD exacerbations. Prior exacerbation history was confirmed as the most important predictor of future exacerbations. These prognostic factors may help clinicians identify patients at high risk of exacerbations, which are a major driver of the global burden of COPD, including morbidity and mortality

SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain displayed on HBsAg virus–like particles elicits protective immunity in macaques

Authorized vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 remain less available in low- and middle-income countries due to insufficient supply, high costs, and storage requirements. Global immunity could still benefit from new vaccines using widely available, safe adjuvants, such as alum and protein subunits, suited to low-cost production in existing manufacturing facilities. Here, a clinical-stage vaccine candidate comprising a SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain–hepatitis B surface antigen virus–like particle elicited protective immunity in cynomolgus macaques. Titers of neutralizing antibodies (>104) induced by this candidate were above the range of protection for other licensed vaccines in nonhuman primates. Including CpG 1018 did not significantly improve the immunological responses. Vaccinated animals challenged with SARS-CoV-2 showed reduced median viral loads in bronchoalveolar lavage (~3.4 log10) and nasal mucosa (~2.9 log10) versus sham controls. These data support the potential benefit of this design for a low-cost modular vaccine platform for SARS-CoV-2 and other variants of concern or betacoronaviruses

Parameter optimization for lipase production by <i>Bacillus megaterium</i> using response surface methodology

311-315Lipases have diverse commercial applications and microorganisms serve as potential source of production. In this study, we carried out lipase production in shake flask culture using Bacillus megaterium, isolated and characterized earlier in our laboratory. Optimization of batch culture conditions of incubation time, pH and temperature was done by conventional approach. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used in this study for Optimization of three variables using central composite design (CCD). The variables optimized for lipase activity were incubation time (24-96 h), pH (6-8) and temperature (30-60°C). The analysis of variance revealed that the established model was significant at (P <0.01). Maximum lipase activity 0.92 U/mL was observed at 45°C temperature, pH 5.6 after 48 h of incubation time. This study will form basis for media optimization and higher production of lipase at pilot scale